Jaworski, N. W., A. Owusu-Asiedu, A. A. Awati, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Effect of Bacillus spp. direct-fed microbials on fecal VFA concentrations, growth performance, and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 92(Suppl. 2):56 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

González-Vega, J. C., C. L. Walk, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Effects of microbial phytase on apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in calcium supplements fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 92(Suppl. 2):36 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is an evergreen native to the Mediterranean area. Its fruit, technically a legume, consists of leathery brown pods that contain hard brown seeds in a sweet pulp. The pods can be crushed, with or without the seeds, to produce a meal that is fed to animals. Because carob pod meal contains 40-45% sugars, it promotes feed intake and adds energy to the diet. Carob pods also contain tannins. As inclusion rates of carob pod meal increase, the tannins can inhibit nutrient digestibility, which limits carob inclusion in swine diets. However, at lower inclusion rates, carob pod meal can reduce the incidence of diarrhea in weanling pigs due to the tannins' effect on the intestinal mucosa.

Caromic 105 is a deseeded, toasted, micronized carob pod meal product. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of Caromic 105 on growth performance of weanling pigs.

Jaworski, N. W., J. Shoulders, J. C. González-Vega, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Effects of using copra meal, palm kernel expellers, or palm kernel meal in diets for weanling pigs. Prof. Anim. Sci. 30:243-251. Link to full text (.pdf)

Soybean meal is the most common source of protein in swine diets in the United States. However, conventional soybean meal contains antinutritional factors such as antigenic proteins, oligosaccharides, lectins, and trypsin inhibitors that limit its use in diets fed to weanling pigs. Methods of processing soybean meal to remove antinutritional factors have been developed. These include enzyme treatment, fermentation, and the removal of soluble carbohydrates.

Like soybean meal, rapeseed products are usually not fed to weanling pigs due to the presence of glucosinolates and relatively high concentrations of fiber in these products. Previous research has shown that fermentation of soybean meal can reduce antinutritional factors and fiber concentrations. It is possible that fermentation can make 00-rapeseed meals and 00-rapeseed expellers suitable for feeding to weanling pigs, but no research has been conducted to confirm this hypothesis. An experiment was conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) by weanling pigs of crude protein and amino acids in four sources of processed soybean products, conventional soybean meal, conventional 00-rapeseed expellers, and in a fermented mixture of co-products including 00-rapeseed expellers, wheat bran, potato peel, and soy molasses.

Canola meal can be used as a source of protein in swine diets, but conventional canola meal contains less protein than soybean meal. In recent years, new varieties of canola have been developed with seeds that contain more protein and less fiber than conventional canola seeds. The meal from these new varieties of canola has a protein content similar to that of soybean meal.

Previous research at the University of Illinois demonstrated that diets containing at least 30% high protein canola meal (CM-HP) or conventional canola meal (CM-CV) could be fed to nursery pigs without reducing growth performance. It has not yet been determined how much soybean meal can be replaced by conventional or high protein canola meal in diets for growing-finishing pigs without affecting growth performance or carcass characteristics. Therefore, an experiment was performed to determine the optimum inclusion rate of high-protein and conventional meal in diets fed to growing and finishing pigs.

Baker, K. M., Y. Liu, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Nutritional value of soybean meal produced from high protein, low oligosaccharide, or conventional varieties of soybeans and fed to weanling pigs. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 188:64-73. Link to full text (.pdf)

By Dr. Hans H. Stein

December, 2013

On December 11, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a plan to limit the use of certain antimicrobials in food animals. The drugs at issue are those considered medically important in humans, including tetracyclines, penicillins and macrolides. The FDA's plan asks drug makers to voluntarily change the labels on their medically important antimicrobials to remove growth promotion as an indication. By law, drugs administered in animal feed cannot be used in a way inconsistent with their labeling, so this would effectively prohibit usage of antimicrobials as growth promoters. The FDA has also asked drug companies to revoke the targeted antimicrobials' over-the-counter status, so that a veterinarian's prescription would be required to use these medications for the purpose of disease prevention or treatment.

Cervantes-Pahm, S., B. K. Knapp, B. G. Kim, Y. Liu, C. M. Parsons, G. C. Fahey, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Comparison of two different in vivo models and an in vitro model for caloric determination of four novel fiber ingredients. J. Agric. Food Chem. 61:12374-12379. Link to full text (.pdf)